Man on the Ice (11 page)

Then a thought came to me.
No, I don’t have to stay another night. That
fourth cloud means I’m going home tomorrow, all right, but I’m going to the
hospital today and I’m going home tomorrow. I bet, Lord, that’s what that
fourth cloud means
.

Then I saw something coming toward me. As it got closer, I said, “That’s the
Coast Guard boat. I believe that’s the
Ann Harvey
.” Then, somehow, a lot
of strength came back to me. I got to my feet by getting hold of the ice clump
and pulling myself up. I got to the centre of the ice pan, where it was a bit
higher, and I waved my arms, holding my gas can. I did this until the boat got
so close to me that I saw her name on her bow.
Ann Harvey
. I was sure
that any second she was going to turn toward me, but no way. She went on at a
very low speed, the same as she was coming toward me and went on by.

At that time I lost every bit of strength I had. I saw her stern-on to me, and
slowly going farther and farther away. I just sat and let myself fall on the
snow. I didn’t even bother to sit on my gas can. I said, “Lord, what does all
this mean? I thought You were showing me a sign from Heaven that I was going
home today or I was going to the
hospital today and home
tomorrow, but I guess that’s not so. But, Lord, it’s very early in the morning.
Maybe You’ll send someone else along and find me.”

I just sat in the snow and put my gas can across my two knees and I cried like
I never cried before, never in all my life. It was very disappointing watching
the
Ann Harvey
going away from me, and I put my head down on my gas can
and cried and sobbed.

I was getting very weak and shivering a lot. Then I turned my head to one side
and took another look at the
Ann Harvey
, and I noticed that she was
turning a bit to the left. I watched her until she got broadside to me, but she
was too far away for me to see her name. I said, “There’s no point in waving my
gas can because they didn’t see me when they were so close. For sure they won’t
see me from way out there.” I was too weak to stand up, so I just sat on the
snow and waved my gas can over my head a few more times.

Then, all at once, I heard the horn or whistle or whatever it was, and I saw a
big tower of black smoke come from her smokestack. It was then I began to feel
strength come back to me, but slowly, very slowly; it seemed like forever. She
just stopped there and didn’t move. I was wondering why they weren’t coming for
me. I thought I was hallucinating again, but I very quickly got that out of
my mind. I said, “No way am I seeing things. That’s the
Ann
Harvey
and I’m going home or to the hospital today.”

I saw a small red rescue craft from the Coast Guard boat coming around a big
pan of ice. It was then I knew for sure my time on that ice pan was over.

The boys on that rescue boat were very fast getting me on board and settled
away and back to the
Ann Harvey
. We were lifted up on the deck, gas can
and all, and I was taken by the paramedics to a place they called the sick bay,
where I was taken care of. The first thing they had to do was cut the floater suit
off, because it was frozen from my waist down. They had to cut my jeans, and
then they wrapped me in something warm. When I had warmed up, they put nice
flannel pajamas and a pair of wool socks on me. I asked if I could go to sleep,
but they said not yet, not until I got to the hospital.

I had drifted 24.496 nautical miles from where I had capsized my speedboat off
my home, St. Lunaire-Griquet, to a position off of St. Anthony Cape. They said
it was about fifty-three kilometres.

I arrived on the wharf in St. Anthony, where many friends and family were
waiting for me. My wife was already at the hospital awaiting my arrival. I spent
a night at the hospital and was released home to the care of my loving wife,
Irene, and our family. A local restaurant called
The Northern
Delight had provided a big pot of delicious rice soup for the crowd who had
gathered in our home while I was lost at sea. I don’t like rice soup, but my
daughter, Trudy, put a bowl of soup aside in the fridge and said, “This is for
Dad, and I’m calling it ‘Faith Soup.’ When he’s found, I will make sure he eats
every last drop of it!”

When I got home, Pastor Primmer said all the people had gathered around the
front of the church and held hands, and they had special prayer for me, at the
same time I was on the ice thinking about them. Irene said there were about
twenty or more people at our house, and they gathered around her in a circle and
held hands and had special prayer for me. Some of these people came to our house
when they got the news that I was missing or overdue, and some of them didn’t
leave until the Coast Guard called Pastor Primmer and told him they had spotted
me on the ice. They told the pastor I seemed to be just fine, that I was waving
my arms. Then the people who had stayed for two nights went home to rest and
sleep.

About a week after I got home from the hospital, the toenails on my left foot
began to turn dark, and every one of my toenails came off at the same time.
However, my bad foot, the one that was supposed to freeze, never even turned
dark. I say to my wife sometimes, “You know, the Lord said, ‘Okay, b’y, if you
think you can care for your
good foot and keep it from freezing,
you go for it, but I’ll take care of your bad foot for you.’”

It proves to me that I can’t do very much. The one I took care of froze a bit,
just enough for the toenails to come off, but the other one was okay. Thank the
Lord for that.

While I was lost on the ice, Denley couldn’t rest or work. He couldn’t sleep or
eat, so he said to his wife, “We’re going home.” So they got in their truck and
headed for the ferry terminal at North Sydney, Nova Scotia. While they were
going through Montreal, his cellphone started to ring, and on the other end was
someone saying, “Your dad is found and he’s okay. He’s walking and talking, so
he’s going to be all right.”

So Denley turned around in Montreal and went back to Brampton again, but after
a week he still couldn’t concentrate on work. He said, “I got to go home and see
Dad.” So, Denley and his wife flew to Deer Lake, where Trudy’s husband, Alonzo
Budden, was waiting to take them to St. Lunaire.

I OFTEN THINK BACK
on the morning I had the accident and lost my
boat. I was alone, and maybe that was a good thing. If someone had been with me,
they might have drowned or died on the ice. I lost my boat, my guns, and all of
my survival gear, everything gone to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean about
three or four miles off St. Lunaire-Griquet. I thought I would never again be
able to afford another speedboat, but my friend Perry Pilgrim gave me a 19-foot
wooden speedboat, which I finished with six
or seven layers of
fibreglass. I bought a 75-HP Mercury outboard motor that had seen very little
use. I was ready to go back on the water again.

I don’t use her for sealing, and I don’t go alone anymore. I went with my
buddies Tony Blake and Abel Smith the following spring, and this past spring I
went sealing with my buddy Allan Burden and his son, Paul Burden. Now I spend
most of my time in my shed building model boats and replicas of boats I once
owned, back when the cod fishing was good. Now, camping seems to be replacing the
old times of speedboats, sealing, and turr hunting. And, putting a snapshot of
my life onto paper has been an amazing experience.

Lastly, I would like to share a little poem:

My name is Rex Saunders and I am a very small man,

I spent two nights out on an ice pan,

The wind was northeast and boy did it blow,

It started to rain then it turned into snow.

The days they were long and the nights were so cold,

I thought for sure I was a lost soul,

I prayed to the Dear Lord, I was shivering to death,

My boots full of water and my clothes were all wet.

I saw helicopters as they circled overhead,

Everyone home thought I was dead.

But then when I looked, the
Ann Harvey
I could
spy,

I knew for sure they were looking for me,

I waved my gas can but she went on by,

With my head on my knees, I started to cry,

Oh Lord, why can’t they see?

I’m all dressed in red and it’s clear as can be,

Then as I watched, she turned right around,

’Twas then that I heard that beautiful sound,

The horn it was blastin’ and the black smoke I could see,

That was a signal they were giving to me.

Just you wait a few minutes and we’ll have you on board,

Then I fell to my knees and I thanked the Dear Lord,

For Captain Frost and all the crew on board,

The trip back to St. Anthony, it took quite a while,

I was off the Grey Islands about twenty-five miles.

The crowd on the wharf was so glad to see me,

Then off to the hospital, the doctor to see,

He put me to bed and closed the room door,

He said, “You can go home tomorrow if your feet are not sore.”

Early the next morning the doctor came in,

He asked, “How are you feeling and how have you been?

You can go home now, but come back again.”

I said, “Okay doctor, I’ll phone my wife.

She’s my reason for livin’; she’s the love of my life.”

Irene took me home and the crowd gathered around,

They were so glad I had been found,

Trudy was there, she never went home,

Denley, Derrick, and Corrie, they called on the phone,

Our pastors, the Primmers and Rogers, were like angels to us,

Irene’s friends like Sheila and Tonya, they caused an awful fuss,

They were singing and shouting and running around,

They were so glad that I had been found.

And now that I am home, I thank the Dear Lord for everything,

And I’ll be ready for sealing again next spring,

Now I’ll end my little poem,

And thank the Dear Lord that I made it back home.